Newman HuoAUSTRALIAN teacher Barry Spencer says he and his Thai wife like to mingle with his Chinese colleagues whom they believe are "characters with lots of fun and laughter.""We always seem to have the best nights out and enjoy the dinners with lots of laughter and, of course, lots of drinking," said Spencer, who has been teaching at a public school in Shiyan Township, Bao"an District, for the past two years. "When the eating and drinking is finished, you never know where you will end up next especially if it is the weekend."Spencer landed a teaching position in the Shiyan Public School through a Shenzhen-based agent in August 2006. It is his second teaching stint in China following three years in Jiangsu Province. Before returning to China for his current assignment, Spencer was teaching in Thailand."It was good in Thailand, but I really wanted to return to China again to teach,"said Spencer, 44, from West Australia."I knew Shenzhen was a fairly new area so I thought it would be nice to teach here,"he said.Spencer has been married to his wife Jan for more than 10 years. Before their marriage, Spencer served in the Australian army for 11 years.With a bachelor's degree in English, he taught English in a middle school outside Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu, from 2001 until 2004."Living in Shenzhen is a little more expensive than other parts of China I have been,"Spencer said.Spencer and Jan always travel to downtown Shenzhen or to Hong Kong to find foreign food and other goods.Spencer said he finds his working life in Shiyan quite comfortable because he has a good teaching schedule, which leaves him plenty of time to relax.